COLLEGE STATION - Quarterback is not one of Texas A&M's biggest concerns, yet it is the most captivating aspect of camp, to which the players report Sunday, with practice Monday.

Sophomore Kyle Allen started the last five games of last season and was the Liberty Bowl MVP, but the gig isn't automatically his when the Aggies open at NRG Stadium against Arizona State in the Texas Kickoff on Sept. 5.

Allen is competing with freshman Kyler Murray, the Gatorade National Player of the Year and one of the most successful players in Texas high school history, in perhaps the most ballyhooed quarterback battle in A&M annals.

"We're a competition-based program," A&M fourth-year coach Kevin Sumlin said. "The best player in practice and the guy who develops and who we feel good about going into that first game against Arizona State is going to be the guy who starts. One of them is going to have to back him up and be ready to roll. You're one play away from playing."

Sumlin is wise to remind the duo of the "one play away" scenario, considering neither came to A&M with the notion of backing up anyone.

"I believe in myself," Murray said when he pledged to play for A&M out of Allen High, where he led the Eagles to three consecutive state titles (two 5A and one 6A). "You see what Johnny (Manziel) did, and you can see what I can do. No disrespect to Kyle Allen - I don't have a problem with him - but I believe in myself.

"Dual threat - it's the best. You have to be able to make plays. We'll see."

Sumlin has said Allen was "in tears" after narrowly losing the starting job a year ago to sophomore Kenny Hill, who was suspended midway through the season and never regained his top spot. Hill has since transferred to TCU.

You can take it with you

Sumlin recalled watching Allen, who led A&M to a 41-38 victory at then-No. 3 Auburn in only his second start, trying to lug his MVP trophy out of the Liberty Bowl following the Aggies' 45-37 victory over West Virginia on Dec. 29.

"It's this big ol' eagle, it's huge," Sumlin said. "He's got a (duffel) bag, and he's trying to carry the trophy on the bus - like it's the Stanley Cup. I told him, 'Hey, this is big-time football, we'll get that shipped back.' He said, 'No, coach, I'm taking this thing with me.'

"It wasn't a selfish deal, but to see where he came from two weeks before the season started - he was devastated - to becoming the MVP of the bowl game, he's extremely confident right now."

Allen and Murray have little in common besides being two of the nation's top-rated quarterbacks over the past two years.

Allen is from Arizona and owns the rangy build (6-3, 210 pounds) of a pro-style passer. He has referred to Murray as a "Texas legend."

"I know everyone here is from Texas and I'm from Arizona, so I don't get that love yet," Allen said with a smile during spring drills. "But (Murray) is going to have to put in the work, just like I did. It's going to be a fun competition."

Murray is the son of A&M icon Kevin Murray, who led the Aggies to successive Southwest Conference titles in 1985-86. Kyler Murray is small for a college quarterback at 5-11 and 185 pounds, but as he pointed out he led Allen to victories with his arm and his feet.

Murray combined for 14,500 yards and 186 touchdowns in passing and rushing over his three seasons as starter.

"People are always going to compare me to my dad and Johnny (Manziel) and say, 'He's Kevin's son,' but it doesn't matter," said Murray, who added that his mission is to "get A&M back to what A&M used to be."

He added that he chose A&M in part to compete in the Southeastern Conference.

The Aggies are 28-11 in their first three seasons under Sumlin, including 13-11 in SEC play.

"If Johnny had played in the Pac-12, the Big 12 or the Big Ten - not that those aren't good conferences - but people might have questioned whether he could do it in the NFL," Murray said. "It's such a great league - it's the NFL of college. You go there and do what you're supposed to do and you belong - who can question it?"

Now, the question is who's going to start in less than a month against Arizona State before what should be an A&M-friendly crowd.

"Both of these guys who have come into this program are extremely talented and extremely confident," said Sumlin, who warned not to overlook Blinn College transfer Jake Hubenak in the equation. "Kyle Allen came into a situation where he wasn't sure Johnny was going to turn pro as a junior, and he committed (to A&M) before that.

"When I was (an assistant) at Oklahoma, DeMarco Murray didn't really care that Adrian Peterson was there. He said, 'I'm good enough to play.' "

Confident QBs

Sumlin noted that a little more than a month after Allen seemed entrenched as the Aggies starter following a strong finish to the season, Kyler Murray signed with A&M.

"He didn't really care that Kyle was the MVP of the bowl game," Sumlin said. "(This competition) is good for us. There are a lot of people who say if you've got two quarterbacks, you don't have one.

Brent Zwerneman is a staff writer for the Houston Chronicle covering Texas A&M athletics. He is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and Sam Houston State University, where he played baseball.

Brent is the author of four published books about Texas A&M, three related to A&M athletics. He’s a four-time winner of APSE National Top 10 writing awards for the San Antonio Express-News, including a second-place finish for breaking the Dennis Franchione “secret newsletter” scandal in 2007.

His coverage of Texas A&M’s move to the SEC from the Big 12 also netted a third-place finish nationally in 2012. Brent met his wife, KBTX-TV news anchor Crystal Galny, in the Dixie Chicken before an A&M-Texas Tech football game in 2002, and the couple has three children: Will, Zoe and Brady.